What To Do With Leftover Tomato Skins & How To Make Tomato Powder

It’s Katie. This year I have an abundant crop of tomatoes. It’s amazing how many and how fast they ripen. I have 4 plants. One called a Super Sweet 100 that produces cherry tomatoes by the bowl full. One is a roma tomato which we love for homemade salsa, and the other 2 are more like a the kind you would get from a grocery store only they taste a million times better these are the ones I freeze!

There’s so much you can do with tomatoes. Me and my daughter like them plain with a little salt and pepper. We eat them on salads and sandwiches but we can’t keep up with the production of the plants, so I end up freezing them. This is a great way to preserve garden tomatoes for future use and not have a big water bath canner boiling in your kitchen on a hot summer day. I always wash my tomatoes first. Then I core and make a small “x” on the bottom of the tomato with my knife. This helps with the peeling later. After the tomatoes are blanched and I have all of these leftover tomato skins. Instead of wasting them and throwing them out I dry them and turn them into tomato powder or flakes.

What do you do with tomato flakes or powder?

I use mine in tomato sauces to boost the flavor, to make tomato paste, and I’ve read people put it on sandwiches, even popcorn!

You can dry tomato skins 2 ways. Either in a dehydrator or in your oven. I’ve done both and they both work great. This beautiful bowl full comes from just one picking today.

First lay your skin out in a single layer. If you’re using an oven I like to use a silicone mat or parchment paper on a large cookie sheet.

Next dry them for the appropriate amount of time, be sure to check on them every so often – especially if you’re using an oven. In an oven they take 2-5 hours depending on the temp and your oven. I right above the warm option on my oven which is about 190°F. Or in your dehydrator for 6-12 hours. Tomato skins are dry when they are crisp and brittle.

Once they are dried and crispy like this you can grind them to a powder using a coffee or spice grinder. Or you can use a food processor if you want flakes.